English

etchplain

From etch + plain.

A compound of etch + plain

Proto-Indo-European *h₁ed- ‘to eat’

…

Proto-Germanic *atjaną ‘to cause/allow to eat, feed (an animal)’

Old High German azzon ‘to cause to bite or feed’

German ätzen ‘to etch’

Dutch etsen ‘to etch’

English etch

Latin plānus ‘flat, even, level’

Anglo-Norman pleyn

Middle English pleyn ‘clear’

English plain

Today it means

noun A plain (area of land, not necessarily flat) where bedrock has been subject to extensive etching or subsurface weathering.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / etchplain